


There is nobody like you

by Neuqe



Series: Neuqe's Flashvibe week '17 [5]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: All other characters get mentioned, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Day 5, FlashVibe Week 2017, Flashpoint AU, M/M, Season 3 related, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 14:43:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11255079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Neuqe/pseuds/Neuqe
Summary: As soon as Barry changes the timeline, he notices that some things have changed. Things he did not intend to change.





	There is nobody like you

**Author's Note:**

> I said I'd post this on monday, but at least I'm posting it now.

His decision to run back in time and save his mother was fuelled by overwhelming grief and longing. He did not think it through. It was harshly made for purely selfish reasons and desperate act of a person, who missed his parents.

Barry is not sure if he was ever truly convinced that running back in time would solve all of his problems, but he hoped it would.

It turns out it did solve one problem and created a hundred other problems. 

Both of his parents are happy, healthy and alive. It is all he has ever wanted since he was a child and he is ecstatic.

His new found happiness does not last long as he realises he has otherwise wrecked his life completely.

Barry has lost all the other good things about his life. Cisco, Iris, Joe, Wally, everyone he holds dear. He got his parents back but he lost his other family, who were there for him when his parents were unable to do so.

He still works with Joe, but Joe does not like him particularly much and he calls him Allen. He insists Barry calls him detective West and gets annoyed if he accidently calls him Joe. He is just another colleague for him.

He bumps into Iris in the middle of the street, but she does not remember his name. He is only a high school acquaintance to her, and they talk, but she is merely being polite, and not truly interested in his life.

Wally is the Flash in this time line, even though he is called Kid Flash, but he is doing excellent job keeping this version of Central City safe, and Barry is so proud he fears his heart might burst. Yet he knows he has lost Wally, too.

He sees Caitlin’s doctor’s office advertisement in the newspaper one morning. He sighs as he realises that she is not part of his life, either.

He notices Harry talking in a TV news report, offering his professional views about scientific phenomena, but he does not work for STAR labs, but for some other laboratory Barry has never heard of.

He has not seen Cisco at all, or found any sort of clue what kind of live he lives in this timeline, and somehow that makes Barry even more depressed.

Barry still has his speed, and it is sort of a relief that no one expects him to be a hero. It should be comforting that he still has his speed, and that speed force has not completely given up on him. However, his speed never was the best thing about being the Flash. It was his team.

It almost shatters his heart as he realises that he has lost the people closest to him because of his own actions.

He misses all of them. He misses them almost as much as he missed his parents before he decided to meddle with the timeline. He regrets his decision, and the feeling is so strong he fears it might crush him.

He is not sure if he improved everyone’s lives by removing himself out of the equation. None of the people who he has found in this timeline seems to be miserable. In fact, they seem to be doing things they have always wanted to do. Living their dreams. Maybe the only life he wrecked was his own.

Barry finds a spark of hope on a sunny morning when he is hurrying towards the precinct and walks straight into Cisco in a middle of the city square.

At first, he does not realise that he has finally found Cisco, and attempts to mutter an apology without even looking whom he tried to push out of his way.

“Woah, string bean, why are you in such a hurry?”

Barry immediately recognises Cisco’s voice, he sharply turns his head, and it really is him.

“Cis-,” Barry starts and abruptly shuts his mouth, “I mean I’m sorry.”

His not sure whether he is apologizing for walking into him or for meddling with the past. It takes all of his will power not to hug Cisco.

He knows he has missed Cisco. Maybe most of them all. There had been plenty of times when he had discovered something that Cisco would have been interested in, only to realise that he cannot show it to him. However, he does not realise how much he has missed him, until he sees him.

Seeing Cisco again, is such a relief that Barry is not sure whether he should cry or laugh. He tries his best not to do either. Because, the person in front of him is not the Cisco he knows. 

He looks different, not in a bad way, but Barry can immediately can distinguish the difference.

This Cisco wears his hair on a bun, something his Cisco does not do unless he is brain storming or working intensely on a project, and even then it is a messy bun. This Cisco wears a suit, and his Cisco is not a big fan of formal clothes. This Cisco also has glasses.

Barry cannot deny that he looks good, not that his Cisco would not have been gorgeous, but this look is completely different. Barry is almost sure it has more to do with his pathetic crush, rather than Cisco’s suit. He is convinced any version of Cisco would make his knees go weak. 

Cisco is grinning, and it is exactly the same grin Barry has seen countless times before and his heart aches. He cannot help, but mirror his grin, even though he feels a sting of disappointment in his stomach.

He had hoped in a someway, that Cisco would still remember the original timeline because of his powers but there is no sign of recognition as he looks at him.

The guilt that washes over him as he realises that his actions robbed Cisco of his superpowers is much stronger than the disappointment.

His confusion and emotional turmoil distract him enough for not to notice that Cisco is holding a cup of coffee and that there are stains of coffee on his very expensive looking suit.

“Did I do that?” Barry asks awkwardly, as soon as he notices the stains.

Cisco looks down, and then grins. “Yeah, you did as you ran straight into me,” he tells amusedly.

Barry winces for multiple reasons. His pay check from the precinct probably could not cover the cleaning bill of the suit and hearing Cisco’s voice feels so good, but knowing it is not Cisco causes crushing pain.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah, you said it,” Cisco says, not unkindly and reaches for his pocket to fish something out of there. “But don’t worry about it, just buy me another coffee, and we’ll be even.”

Cisco hands him a business card, and Barry stares at the card and does not notice Cisco’s expecting stare.

He coughs to get Barry’s attention. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Barry,” he answers as he looks up from the card, and abandons all the hope of Cisco remembering anything from the other timeline.

“I’m Francisco, as the card says,” he says with nod towards the card, and somehow it gives Barry even worse emotional turmoil because Cisco hates that name. “Give me a call sometime, Barry,” he tells with a wink before he walks into the crowd.

Barry is left alone, dumbfounded, to stare again at the business card, which says Francisco Ramon, CEO of Ramon Industries.

***

Barry knows he should not call Francisco. Realising that he is having his own company, Ramon Industries, makes it even clearer for Barry that everyone is living their dreams in this timeline.

Caitlin is a doctor as she always wanted to, Joe is still detective, Iris is an award-winning journalist, Wally has speed and is a hero, Harry is a respected scientist and Cisco is inventing all sort of stuff and having a successful business out of it.

The lives they would live without the Team Flash.

Barry knows none of them need him in their lives, but the longing is strong, and he needs a friendly face. Francisco is the only one of the team who has wanted something to do with him, so Barry calls him.

He buys him the coffee, and suddenly that one coffee turns into multiple coffees over the week and coffee turns into dinners, and soon Barry realises he is dating Francisco.

Barry cannot help but wonder if it would have happened to Cisco and him, if the circumstances had been different.

In theory, dating Francisco should be great. His smart, funny and caring, just like Cisco, but everything feels so wrong to Barry.

He definitely is a version of Cisco. They have the same personality and same sense of humour, but that is where the similarities end.

All the small details are different. The way they drink their coffee, their favourite movie and songs, favourite colours, what they eat as breakfast, what they are allergic to, everything is different. It is driving Barry insane because it keeps highlighting the fact that Francisco is not Cisco.

He is not the Cisco he fell for. It is even worse that he cannot tell him about his speed. One of the things he most likes about Cisco is that he knows everything about him and he can tell everything to him.

Part of why he fell for Cisco is that they have been through thick and thin together. He does not share any of the good, or the bad, memories with Francisco, not the ones that truly matter and defined their relationship.

Everything feels fake and pretended, and Barry loathes it.

When Barry learns that Wally and Iris are crime fighting sibling duo and Francisco reluctantly acts as their tech support, it feels like the last punch to the stomach. The last bit of evidence that things will never be the same as they were if he stays in this timeline.

So he runs, he runs and lets his mother die again.

***

Barry feels almost numb from relief, as Central City looks familiar and identical to the one he knew before he saved his mother.

He speeds through the city, checking that everything is as it should be.

Joe tells him to finish the report of a murder case and invites him over for a dinner tomorrow and Iris reminds him that they have to decide what they are going to give Joe as a birthday present. Wally also reminds him about the present and asks if he could help him with a piece of course work. Caitlin is puzzled by Barry’s odd behaviour and tries to do a medical examination but he speeds away. Harry merely grunts as he sees him.

Barry could not be happier.

He cannot spot any differences, and lastly he runs into the cortex, and pulls Cisco into a tight hug.

“Woah, what’s wrong?”

Barry does not know again whether he should cry or laugh, merely because he is so happy to see Cisco. Once again, he tries not to do either, but hugs Cisco little tighter.

“I did something really stupid,” he whispers against Cisco’s hair.

Cisco does not pull away from embrace. “How stupid? On scale from ‘I said I love you to waitress as a response when they told me to enjoy my meal’ to ‘I ran back in time and saved my mother from reverse Flash.”

“I-How-how did you know?” Barry stammers.

“Barr, you’re my best friend. I know you. My ‘Barry did some stupid shit’ senses were tingling,” he jokes. “I had a small suspicion that losing your father could throw you over the edge,” Cisco says softly, and strokes Barry’s back.

“Have I been missing?” Barry asks suddenly, as he realises that he never checked the date or time since he ran back and restored the timeline.

“A day or so,” Cisco muses, “I told everyone not to worry. That you would come back, eventually.”

Barry is little taken aback by the conviction in Cisco’s voice.

“How did you know that I was coming back?” He asks perplexed.

He did not know himself he would be coming back, either. It was quickly made and impulsive decision, like all of his decisions.

Cisco hums. “Whether you realise it or not, you have pretty decent life even though you have suffered losses. You have plenty of people who care about you. A lot. You had to realise it by losing it.”

There is truth in Cisco’s words. He did gain newfound appreciation for his life and the people who he loves. He did not know he had a family before he lost it.  

“How did you know I would lose it?”

“You’re forgetting what my super power is,” Cisco tells with a small laugh, “I can see to other universes. There’s never just one thing that’s different. It’s always a chain reaction. Also judging by the force you are currently hugging me, I’d say you missed me,” Cisco’s voice is light, as if he would be joking.

“You have no idea,” Barry says with tone that is more serious than Cisco’s.

They remain quiet for a moment, but it is not an uncomfortable silence. Barry breaks the silence to apologize.

“I’m so sorry.”

He knows it is cheap, and probably meaningless, but he does not know what else to say.

Cisco does not answer immediately, and for Barry it feels as if the silence lasts forever. He is not sure what he would do if his actions would cause him to lose Cisco in this timeline, too. 

“Good. I’m pretty sure I can forgive you,” he eventually answers.

Barry blinks few times in confusion.

“So you are not mad?”

It sounds a lot more like a question than a statement. Barry hates it.

“I’m not mad,” Cisco confirms, “I can kinda understand why you did it. But you know, we gotta have team wide discussion about it. You have power to alter _reality._ You cannot be doing it for selfish reasons. One time there will be consequences that none of us can fix.”

“I know,” Barry says solemnly.

He is perfectly aware of the weight of the consequences, and he sincerely hopes that everything has truly stayed the same.

“But that discussion can wait till tomorrow,” Cisco says, and finally pulls out of the embrace.

Barry glances at the clock, and realises only then that it is closer to nine in the evening.

He rubs his neck, smiles a half-smile. “Yeah.”

Cisco smiles at him, almost gently. “Do you want to crash at my place tonight? You kinda look like you don’t want to be alone.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Barry says, mirroring Cisco’s smile.

He decides that once things settle down, he will tell Cisco how he feels, but right now, he is just glad to have him as a best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo, I'm not completely happy with this but at least it is something. I didn't like the canon version of flashpoint so I changed it a little. The title is from a song There is nobody like you by Eva & Manu. I'll probably post the high school au today too.


End file.
